Hair felt and method of making



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ALBERT L. CLIP, 0F DANVERS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 BECKWITH MANU- FACTURING CUMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

No Drawing.

heat and sound, and as a basic material to be saturated with asphalt, bituminous materials, rosins, Waxes or the like, or mixtures of these.

A difliculty found in the use of longhair in making felt on a paper machine is its strong tendency to become lumpy and matted in the furnish so that the formation on the cylinder mold, and the subsequent felting is not uniform, but the product has thick and thin portions and is improperly bonded. In order to break up these lumps, it has been necessary to set the beater roll down so hard that most of the hair was cut orbroken so that it has been relatively short in the final product.

I have discovered that-such hard beating is not necessary if the hair be mixed with material which serves to lubricate and individualize it so that the strands thereof may slide by each other and become uniformly distributed in the stock. This may be accomplished by the use of a, material of aslimy nature, such as a 'slimy soap, or saponified oils or fatty acids, or combinations thereof. For example, 10 to 50 parts of cellulose fiber such as sulphate, or sulphite pulp, rags, cotton, linters, etc., or combinations thereof, are beaten out for about fifteen minutes. The heater roll is then raised slightly so as to avoid cutting the hair but yet sutliciently down so as to comb out'the hair, and from 50 to '90 parts of hair, such as goat or cattle hair from tanneries, and about 20 parts of any ordinary soap solution are then added to'the beater. circulated in the beater for about an hour, or until the hair is combed out and each fiber is so coated with the soap as to be individualized. Themixture is then transferred to the wet machine and run wet or with a large volume of water, and with heavy suction on the cylinder mold. This method in operating the machine helps to preventthe hair from becoming matted and aids in transferring the stock to the make-up roll from the carrier felt. This produces a This is HAIR FELT AND METHO1 OF MAKING.

Application filed September 12,1923. Serial No. 662,221.

somewhat rough surfaced felt of very open and porous nature but exceedingly tough when saturated.

Where the hair is individualized by such soap the soap may be washed out in the felting operation, thus leaving a distinctly openand porous product of no great strength when dry, if the amount of cellulosic material be very small, but when saturated, as with asphaltic or bituminous compounds, of great toughness and resistance to felt may be highly desirable.

The function of the cellulosic material is more thoroughly to bond the hair, since this felts much more readily than, the hair and therefore aids in running the s'tbck on the paper machine. The use of wood flour or sawdust also aids in this respect since it prevents the individualized hair fibers from slipping so easily relative to each other so that they do not become so readily displaced after they have once been laid in the feltingoperation. Wood flour or sawdust alone, however, would not add materially to the strength of the felted product, which when dry would be quite weak were the cellulosic fiber entirely omitted, and some fibrous cellulosic material has been found necessary in order that the stock maybe run satisfactorily on the paper machine.

Should the hair contain lime this would act to precipitate some of the soap in the felt which might or might not be desirable in individual instances, depending on the character of the felt desired.

By the expression slimy soap as used in the specification and appended claims, I mean the soap of a fatty acid, e. g., the sodium orpotassium soap of oleic, stearic, or

palmitic acids, or the like, in contradistinction to sodium resinate or like soaps, which are of markedly less slimy or lubricating character.

It will thus beseen that the soaps which I employ and which are especially effective as individualizing agents are aliphatic or straight chain fatt -acids soaps, whereas sodium resinate, w ich is materially less effective, falls in that class of soaps having an aromatic or ring structure.

Having thus described this invention it is evident that various changes and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art such as properly come within the'scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method which comprises beating together cellulosic material and soap having the slimy characteristics of a straight chain fatty-acid soap, then adding to the beater long hair and beating and. combing out the fibers while maintaining'them of original length until they are thoroughly individualized, and then running oil on a wet paper machine. r

2. The method which comprises beating together cellulosic material and soa having the slimy characteristics of a straig t chain fatty-acid soap, then adding to the beater long hair, and beating and combing out the fibers while maintaining them of original length until they are thoroughly individualized, and then running ofi' on .the paper machine with a large volume of water and. under heavy suction.

The method which comprises beating together cellulosic material and soap having the slimzy characteristics of a straight chain fatty-acid soap, then adding lon hair and beating and combin out the fi ers while maintaining them 0 'ori inal length until they are thoroughly individualized, precipitating the soap, and then running off on a paper machine. I

4. The method which comprises individualizing hair of original length with soap having the slimy characteristics of a straight i chain fatty-acid soap, precipitating the on the hair, and felting the stock.

5. The method which comprises individualizing hair of original length with soap having the slimy characteristics of a straight chain fatty-acid soap and felting the stock on a wet paper machine.

soap

6. A substantially uniform felt having the subordinate proportion of cellulosic material, and an insoluble fatty-acid soap fixed thereon.

'9. A method which comprises individualizing with a soap having the slimy characteristics of a straight chain fatty-acid.

soap,'the hair of a felt furnish comprising a preponderant proportion of hair of original length anda subordinate proportion of cellulosic material, and felting the furnish on a wet paper machine.

10. A substantially uniform felt having the characteristics of paper machine fabrication and comprising '10 to 50 parts of' cellulose fiber, 50 to parts of hair of original length and an insoluble fatty-acid soap fixed thereon.

11. -A substantially uniform felt having the characteristics of paper machine fabrication and comprising hair, cellulose fiber, sawdust, and an insoluble fatty-acid soap distributed therethrough.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

ALBERT L. CLAPP.- 

